Andrew Ridgeley
Encyclopedia
Andrew John Ridgeley is an English
former pop
singer-songwriter
, guitarist
and environmentalist
. Andrew was a member (with George Michael
) of the 1980s pop music duo
Wham!
.
, Surrey
to Jennifer and Albert Ridgeley. His mother is British and his father is Egyptian-Italian. Ridgeley grew up in Bushey
, Hertfordshire
, and attended Bushey Meads School
. His mother was a schoolteacher at Bushey Heath Primary School and his father worked for Canon. When George Michael
was enrolled at the school, Ridgeley volunteered to take him under his wing. After years of playing in various music groups, Michael and Ridgeley formed Wham! They then approached various record label
s with a homemade tape
(which took ten minutes to record
in Ridgeley's living room), and signed with Innervision Records
. According to I'm Coming to Take You to Lunch, a book written by Wham's manager, Simon Napier-Bell
, the band left Innervision after the first album and signed to CBS.
debut appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand
but broke up in late 1986, whereupon Ridgeley moved to Monaco
, and tried his hand at Formula Three
motor racing. Meeting with little success, Ridgeley moved to Los Angeles
in pursuit of a career in acting. He returned to Britain permanently in 1990.
CBS Records
(later Sony Music
), having taken up the option on Wham!'s contract that specified solo
album
s from Michael and Ridgeley, released a guitar
and drum
driven solo recording from Ridgeley, Son of Albert
, in 1990. His brother Paul, an occasional percussionist for Bananarama
, played drums on the album. Singles
included "Shake" and "Red Dress". CBS passed up the option of a second album. Reportedly after retiring from active music-making, Ridgeley still remained active in music-writing under various pseudonyms.
being discharged from a nearby pipe. After recovering from his illness, Ridgeley gave an interview to The Times
. He went on to become a prominent environmentalist in the cause of water quality at British
surfing
beaches and riverways, working with the UK
charity, Surfers Against Sewage
(SAS).
Ridgeley is a partner
in a British business that makes surfing equipment. He lends his name and donates money to help pass laws against the discharge of raw sewage in UK offshore waters. Ridgeley's and SAS's efforts enjoyed success in recent years, having influence upon numerous safe sewage laws that have virtually eliminated E. coli
illness and deaths in the UK.
, Cornwall
, United Kingdom
, in a restored 15th century farm property with his girlfriend Keren Woodward
of the pop group Bananarama
. The majority of his spare time is taken up by golf and he is a keen member of a local club where he plays off a handicap of 12; other interests include drinking real ale (he is a member of CAMRA). He is also a keen Queens Park Rangers fan.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
former pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and environmentalist
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
. Andrew was a member (with George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
) of the 1980s pop music duo
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
Wham!
WHAM!
Wham! were a short-lived British musical duo formed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley in the early 1980s. They were briefly known in the United States as Wham! UK due to a naming conflict with an American band....
.
Early life
Ridgeley was born in WindleshamWindlesham
Windlesham is a village in the Surrey Heath district of Surrey in South East England. It is also the name of the parish that covers Bagshot and Lightwater, in addition to Windlesham...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
to Jennifer and Albert Ridgeley. His mother is British and his father is Egyptian-Italian. Ridgeley grew up in Bushey
Bushey
Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. Bushey Heath is situated to the south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow.-History:...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, and attended Bushey Meads School
Bushey Meads School
Bushey Meads School is a foundation secondary school in Bushey, Hertfordshire, UK. The current head teacher is Mr Keith Douglas, B.A. Hons, M.A., who started as a new member of staff in the school in December 2005....
. His mother was a schoolteacher at Bushey Heath Primary School and his father worked for Canon. When George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
was enrolled at the school, Ridgeley volunteered to take him under his wing. After years of playing in various music groups, Michael and Ridgeley formed Wham! They then approached various record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s with a homemade tape
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
(which took ten minutes to record
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
in Ridgeley's living room), and signed with Innervision Records
Innervision Records
Innervision Records was an independent record label distributed by CBS Records. The label was established around 1981 by Mark Dean and Shamsi Ahmed which included Wham! on their artist roster, who scored four top-ten hits while signed to Innervision...
. According to I'm Coming to Take You to Lunch, a book written by Wham's manager, Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell has undertaken many jobs in the music industry, including bandboy, manager, producer, songwriter, journalist and author and gourmet...
, the band left Innervision after the first album and signed to CBS.
Wham! and after
Wham! went on to enjoy worldwide success between 1982 and 1986. They made their U.S.United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
debut appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
but broke up in late 1986, whereupon Ridgeley moved to Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, and tried his hand at Formula Three
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...
motor racing. Meeting with little success, Ridgeley moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in pursuit of a career in acting. He returned to Britain permanently in 1990.
CBS Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
(later Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
), having taken up the option on Wham!'s contract that specified solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s from Michael and Ridgeley, released a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and drum
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
driven solo recording from Ridgeley, Son of Albert
Son of Albert
Son of Albert is the debut solo album of Andrew Ridgeley. Originally released in May 1990, Ridgeley's effort was a sharp turn away from his former pop image with Wham! years earlier. Focusing more on guitars and drums, the critics panned Ridgeley’s attempt at a solo record...
, in 1990. His brother Paul, an occasional percussionist for Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
, played drums on the album. Singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
included "Shake" and "Red Dress". CBS passed up the option of a second album. Reportedly after retiring from active music-making, Ridgeley still remained active in music-writing under various pseudonyms.
Surfing
Ridgeley began surfing in the early 1990s. While surfing with his brother off the coast of Britain, both men contracted a waterborne illness from the raw sewageSewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
being discharged from a nearby pipe. After recovering from his illness, Ridgeley gave an interview to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. He went on to become a prominent environmentalist in the cause of water quality at British
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
beaches and riverways, working with the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
charity, Surfers Against Sewage
Surfers against Sewage
Surfers Against Sewage is a campaign for clean, safe recreational water free from sewage effluents, toxic chemicals, nuclear waste and marine litter. SAS also campaigns to protect surf spots from environmental damage, negative impacts on wave quality and to safeguard wave riders right of access....
(SAS).
Ridgeley is a partner
Partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
in a British business that makes surfing equipment. He lends his name and donates money to help pass laws against the discharge of raw sewage in UK offshore waters. Ridgeley's and SAS's efforts enjoyed success in recent years, having influence upon numerous safe sewage laws that have virtually eliminated E. coli
Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms . Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls...
illness and deaths in the UK.
Personal life
Ridgeley now lives near WadebridgeWadebridge
Wadebridge is a civil parish and town in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel five miles upstream from Padstow....
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, in a restored 15th century farm property with his girlfriend Keren Woodward
Keren Woodward
Keren Woodward is an English pop singer and songwriter of British girl group Bananarama, co-founded by her long time school friend Sara Dallin and Siobhan Fahey....
of the pop group Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
. The majority of his spare time is taken up by golf and he is a keen member of a local club where he plays off a handicap of 12; other interests include drinking real ale (he is a member of CAMRA). He is also a keen Queens Park Rangers fan.